• Dudley in Umbria
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• Meat

MEAT

• Umbria is an absolute haven for those who are passionate about meat. The animals feed on the nature of Umbria, which means that the meat is always full of flavour and ensures that the produce is consistently of the highest standard. Pigs provide the meat that is most dominant and versatile in Umbrian cuisine, where pork meat is used for various hams, sausages and salamis. The meat from Umbrian pigs is renowned for being particularly flavoursome due to the fact that the animals feed on fresh wild plants and herbs.



• The slaughtering of a pig is considered to be an art and a craft in itself with the people of Norcia being credited as those with the greatest skill. In effect, the Umbrian town of Norcia and the meat preparing skills of its inhabitants gave the Italian language the term norcino, which means to butcher and prepare sausages, whilst the butchers who are endowed with the proficiency to process pig meat are commonly referred to as norcini.



• The origins of salamis, sausages, salted and seasoned meat and cold meats dates back to the time when man determined a need to store and maintain the edibility of food over a period of weeks and months (e.g. for long journeys). Such versatile food became both a convenience and a necessity for hunters in particular, as their work meant long hours away from home.



• Typical Umbrian salamis and cold meats are:
  Mazzafegati: these are pig’s liver sausages that come in both sweet and savoury versions.
  Corallina di Norcia: a mixture of three parts of finely minced high quality pork to one part of diced hard fat. Seasoned with salt, black pepper and garlic.
  Umbrian Mortadella: finely minced sausage mixture of lean pork, seasoned with salt and black pepper and with a long strip of bacon running through the centre.
  - Budellacci: smoked pig entrails, which are considered to be an enduring piece from the gastronomic history of Norcia.
  Prosciutto crudo: uncooked ham, which is the jewel in the crown of Umbrian cold meats.
  Cold wild boar meats: boar is utilised much in that same way as pork meat and often together in various kinds of salamis and sausages.



• Another digression from pork in Umbria includes porchetta, which is a whole spit-roasted black piglet. Prior to cooking the piglet is opened, its shoulder blades and entrails are removed and the carcass is carefully washed. The entrails are also cleaned before being stuffed back into the piglet along with salt, black pepper, garlic, wild fennel, rosemary, mint and other fresh herbs.



• Pork is most definitely the king in Umbria but there are other meats to enjoy such as the high quality beef, lamb, wild wood pigeon, pheasant, rabbit/hare, venison and veal. Most of these meats were once considered to be the food of peasantry but modern times have taken the meat from the annals of history and placed them on the menus of some of the finest restaurants.